Study shows social positioning may affect student learning

This papers shows how a student's learning depends on many things in his/her life.   - - Donna Poisl

by University of Arkansas professor Hayriye Kayi-Aydar in a paper published this fall in TESOL Quarterly.

TESOL Quarterly is the peer-reviewed publication of TESOL International Association. TESOL stands for teachers of English to speakers of other languages.

"We all have assumptions about students," Kayi-Aydar said. "We assign positions to students in our classrooms, but we need to let them have more influence over their positions."

Social positioning theory says that people take on various positions within groups and assign positions to others, mostly through talking, according to research cited in Kayi-Aydar's article. Social status, gender, race and culture may impact positioning, which may change over time as relationships between people evolve.
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